Vale's crimelord
by Kermit the yeeter
Summary: Vale's notorious criminals Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan were approached by a woman who claimed to be the one who would bring about the new world. She offered them a deal: they help her reach her goals and they get a special place in her new world. Sounds good, too bad they grew accustomed to the 'old world'. AU where Roman and Neo decide to fight Cinder instead of joining forces
1. Prologue

**A/N: the story starts before the events shown in RWBY with main focus on RomanNeo, teams RWBY and JNPR. The only pairing I'm currently sure about is Roman/Neo, will add more eventually.**** Keep in mind that English is not my native language, expect loads of typos and whatnot.**

Vale was a busy city. Being one of the largest cities on Remnant and having the Beacon Academy nearby definitely helped. During the day the city was filled with activity, not really surprising for the city of it's magnitude.

What was surprising, however, is that once the night fell, all the sounds ceased immediately. The nights were so quiet that a person's scream could be heard blocks away. However, that's the thing - there were no screams, no shooting, no nothing. And that's the weirdest thing about Vale.

To ordinary citizens it meant nothing, they were so used to this dead silence that they came to believe that's how things were supposed to be. But the people from other big cities or people involved in some shady business found this silence unsettling, unnatural. After all, the bigger the city, the more criminals, gangs, and other scum it attracted. The city of Vale was no exception, in fact, the amount of villains it had was probably second only to Vacuo.

And yet, nights in this city were mostly quiet. Some speculated that the reason was Beacon Academy. One of the best schools for Hunters and Huntresses, people, whose goal it was to protect innocents from monsters, humans, and faunus alike. Others argued that Vale's law enforcement was so efficient and formidable that no crime could thrive under it's watch.

The real reason, however, was not that romantic or idealistic. The only reason crimes and gang wars haven't torn this city apart yet was a man in charge. A man, whose name meant power and control in the underworld. A man, who had people in both the city's government and police department. No law, no police raid went without his knowledge.

He was aware of everything happening in the city, be it something as sensational as celebrity's visit or something as insignificant as attempts of one small-time criminal to do his partner in and take their share.

Everyone involved in Vale's underworld life knew his name and knew better than to cross paths with him.

After all, he probably had as much power as the mayor did, if not more.

All mafia bosses worked for him, or as they called it 'doing business with Roman Torchwick'. That way they felt as if they were equal to him, even though everyone knew it couldn't be farther from the truth.

Torchwick was once a small time thief, pickpocketing strangers on a street and stealing food from the shops.14-year old boy had to adapt and survive on his own, without relying on anyone. There was, however, one thing that made him stand out from countless others orphans and beggars on the streets of Vale - he had an unlocked aura.

He didn't remember why or who unlocked it. Come to think of it, he had very little memory of his life before the streets. The only thing he was certain of is that he _hated_ being with his family. He didn't know why.And frankly, it didn't matter to him anymore.

Soon some gang leader saw him and potential uses for his unlocked aura and took him in. Years had gone by and the boy became the gang leader's right hand man. A couple of months after that he tried to take his place, but failed miserably. Barely escaping to the other part of the city with his life he became no one yet again.

Devastated, he was ready to give up. Soon, however, he met a homeless mute girl with two differently coloured eyes. In many ways she reminded Roman of his younger self. But the biggest thing that caught his attention was her aura and a semblance that allowed her to make illusions at will. And just like the gang leader had done to him before, he took the girl in to teach her. He planned on using her semblance to take over the gang he used to be a part of. Having spent some time with her, he got used to the girl, he taught her how to survive on the streets, how to get by, and how to defend herself. He also gave her a few tips on how to use a semblance, but considering he had not yet found his own he was not much of a help.

Some time later he returned to the part of Vale controlled by the gang he had previously run from. Together with Neo, the girl who he named after her favourite ice cream, they managed take control of the gang.

That was their first step on the path to controlling all of the city.

It took them years to pull that off, but once they did, they did everything in their power to secure their hold on the underworld throne.

They stayed in control and were sure that no one could challenge them, no one who would be powerful enough to order them around.

That is, until some mysterious woman arrived in Vale.

_ROMAN_

To say that Roman Torchwick was pissed was a huge understatement. Don't get him wrong, he liked going on a mission or a 'business trip' in person from time to time, but running around the city for the entire week because his goons' incompetence could only rival their stupidity was not as much fun as he hoped it would be.

_'What's the point of having countless goons under my command if all they are good at is bringing me the bad news?'_

And now he was stuck in a car, waiting for it to finally reach its destination in the docks. He wasn't sure what happened, but he could already guess what it was.

A few days ago, one of the outposts had been hit. There wasn't anything of value and only nine of his men were found dead. Nothing that could hinder any of his current operations, but the fact that someone had the guts and the ability to massacre one of his outposts was something he he didn't see in a long time. They were still trying to find the culprits, but there were no results so far. No one in the criminal underworld would try something like that. No mobsters had balls for it. As for the attackers, all they achieved was getting Roman's attention, which was almost never a good thing.

Upon arriving to the scene he saw one of the warehouses they used for stashing weapons on fire. There were several cars around the warehouse, his men standing around with their weapons out as if expecting an attack. Unsurprisingly, there were no cops here. After all, they knew better than to interfere with Roman's business. They would arrive only in the morning, finding only a burnt warehouse and telling the media it was an unfortunate accident.

"Hey boss!" he turned to find one of his men running to him.

"What happened here?" he could see his men carrying bodybags so he was pretty sure what happened.

"Someone attacked our warehouse, doesn't look like the boys guarding it stood a chance. Seventeen bodies, two missing, all the dust stored there was stolen, all the weapons were burned. We didn't find any clues as to who could the attacker be," the guy seemed to be competent enough. He probably was one of those in charge of the docks area.

"I see, but why did you require my 'immediate presence' here?" He made air quotas as he recalled the message he got on his scroll.

"Well," his face betrayed no emotion whatsoever "we have a survivor who claims to have a message for you."

Roman just arched his eyebrow before following the only competent goon he'd seen in a week.

A message? That was certainly interesting. Looks like Roman was right about this new player, they definitely wanted his attention. But what for? Perhaps they wanted to make a deal with him, after showing him that they are not to be messed with. Or maybe the wanted to lure him into a trap and replace him as the Vale's crimelord. Whatever the case was, it was sure to shake things up a little.

He smiled as thoughts twirled in his mind. He was looking forward to it.

**So that's the prologue. Somewhere down the line I'll definitely get into the details of Roman's and Neo's past. I'll be happy for any feedback I'll get.**

**In the future I'll try to make longer chapters. I will also try to publish them as soon as I can.**


	2. Chapter 2

_ROMAN_

After a few minutes of walking they passed by the burning warehouse.

_'Why would anyone steal the dust while also leaving all the weapons behind? Dust is __much more easier to acquire than_ _the weapons, after all?'_ he wondered about the mysterious attacker's motives as he gazed upon the building engulfed in flames.

Soon, he redirected his attention to a group of people they were heading towards. There were 4 of them standing near a truck. One of them seemed to be injured, if bandages around his torso and head were any indication. Another looked like some kind of medic attending to the other one's wounds. The two others were just thugs with guns whose job was to look tough.

As they neared the group the medic took it as his cue to leave. The survivor looked up upon hearing the sounds of cane hitting the ground.

Roman believed that the first impression was the most important. And when it came to him, there was no one who could make a stronger first impression.

And judging by the face of the bandaged thug his first impression was as good as ever

"Y-you're Roman Torchwick, right?" the poor guy finally managed to open his mouth after a couple of seconds just staring at his boss.

"No, I'm Roman's evil twin who killed him to take his place as the best looking criminal in history of Vale." he said rolling his eyes. Perhaps he was a bit too harsh on the guy, but all this commotion caused by the attack did a number on his nerves. Last couple of days he'd been grumpier than usual, which was not good for anyone around him.

The guy just kept looking at him, uncertainty and fear visible in his eyes, he probably expected Roman to bash his head in. Roman just sighed.

"Tell me what happened here and who was the attacker , I want the details." He leaned on his cane waiting for the guy to gather his wits.

"Y-yeah, yeah, of course" his gaze went down to the ground as he tried to remember. "Well, me and the boys were in the warehouse playing cards. Everything was as usual: one guy on a roof, four guys around the warehouse, the rest of us were waiting for our shifts. Some were playing cards, some were listening to a radio. There were literally no signs of trouble until we decided to check on the guys on the lookout."

He took a moment to regain his composure. Roman used the moment to look around. He immediately noticed that the Competent Guy who lead him here had already walked off to take care of the mess. He liked him, he should probably reassign the guy. Good subordinates were hard to find these days.

"So, we sent some guys outside to swap the lookouts. Less then ten seconds later we heard an explosion. We immediately grabbed our guns and aimed them at the direction where the sound came from. We waited for the attackers to open the doors so we could light them up, but before I knew it the door and the part of the wall around it came flying at us," The guy shuddered at the memory. "It crushed two dudes against the wall behind them and knocked me down. When I looked up all I could see was dust and smoke from the explosion as well as muzzle flashes. Then I heard more explosions followed by screams. And then sudden silence. It was over just as soon as it started. I remained on the ground, thinking the boys have already dealt with intruder. Not a moment later something grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground. I couldn't see who it was, but their hand was so hot I would have screamed if I could. And when my vision finally cleared I saw..." he trailed off as his eyes stared into nothing. Roman found himself involuntarily leaning forward a bit so as to not miss anything. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the thugs with guns, who were here the entire time, doing the same.

He patiently waited for the guy to continue. When it was clear that the he completely lost touch with reality he decided to bring him back to the topic.

"Hey," he snapped his fingers in front of the goon's face. "What was it, what did you see?"

The goon blinked, focusing his eyes on Roman. After a moment of silence he spoke.

"I saw beauty"

"..."

"..."

"You saw beauty?" Roman simply asked. The guy only nodded.

"And what can you tell me about this beauty of yours?" Although his voice was even and showed no emotion, it was clear that Roman was quickly losing patience.

"Everything was perfect about her. Her black hair, her glowing eyes, her beautiful dress that left little work for imagination, and, oh, those legs..." the idiot started babbling.

Roman rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

_'__Looks like the flying piece of the wall damaged his last brain cells'_.

He again snapped his fingers in front of the simpleton's face, bringing him back into the real world.

"Tell me, how did this Miss Universe manage to wipe the floor with you idiots? Did she have any back up?"

"I've no idea how she did it, but she was, like, shooting fireballs. That's how she set the warehouse on fire."

Roman hummed in thought. If the moron's right, they could be in for a big trouble.

"I was told you had some kind message for me."

"Oh, o-of course," the man started. "She, uh, she wants to meet with you."

"Really? And what exactly does she want with me? Make me her prince Charming?"

"She said that she has an offer for you. She wants you to meet her in two days right here, in front of the warehouse at midnight."

Roman just arched his eyebrow. _'Two days? So soon already? Looks like someone's in a rush.'_

"Anything else you might want to tell me?

"No, I think that's it."

After a moment he nodded and told the thugs to take him to one of the safehouses in the area. After that he turned on his heels before going straight for the car waiting for him.

Once he was inside Roman told the driver to set course for their main base of operations.

As the car started he stopped paying attention to the night streets of Vale outside, instead focusing on the situation at hand.

Whoever this woman was, she was definitely a Huntress level. That was very bad. He had enough problems with do-gooders Hunters in his past, who rarely ever killed and always tried to do the 'right thing', even if that meant giving away tactical advantage to save one unfortunate soul.

But Huntress that had no qualms with burning people alive? Yeah, not great. And to top it all off, she wanted to meet him. It could be a trick to lure him out and kill him. But then again, if someone wanted Ronan dead there were better ways of getting his attention, if the wounded's thug description of her was anything to go by. More likely, she wanted to show how tough she really was before offering him a deal. Whatever it was, he was not going to risk it. He would take Neo with him and have some goons on a standby not far from the docks. When it came to fighting, Neo was the perfect choice. She gained herself a well-deserved reputation of the most dangerous and ruthless killer on the streets of Vale. Good thing she was on Roman's side.

At this moment he felt his scroll vibrate. Pulling the device out of his pocket, Roman saw a message from his partner. Well, speak of the devil. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face on its own.

_"w__hat all the fuss was about? Some1 finally offed Junior?))"_ A chuckle escaped his throat as he read the message.

_"I'm afraid not, some crazy lady burned down a warehouse and now wants to arrange a meeting"_

The reply came, as always, almost immediately.

_"ooh__ she sounds like fun) what u gonna do?"_

As much as he loved chatting with Neo, he'd be much more comfortable with communicating with her in person.

_"We'll discuss that after I'm back"_

_" :( sometimes u r no fun"_

Roman smirked as he typed his reply.

_"Don't you worry, my dear, there'll be plenty of fun when I get back"_

_" :) k"_

As he put his scroll away his mind began to wander yet again.

_NEO_

_Several hours earlier._

Neo was _so_ _bored._

While Roman was off running around the city and going on some important meetings she was stuck at the base waiting for him. When Neo asked him why she couldn't accompany him he said something about the delicate nature of the underworld's politics. She just rolled her eyes at his answer. In her opinion, everything was simple: Roman is their boss, she is his partner and, if need be, enforcer and a bodyguard, and everyone should be afraid of them.

And if someone suddenly had a very bright idea to dare oppose them, they would very quickly found themselves staring at the pointy end of her parasol.

She smiled at the thought, this kind of 'business trips', as Roman called them, were her favourite. The fear of death in the eyes of those who thought they could outsmart the Vale's crimelord and his ever faithful partner.

Unfortunately, there haven't been a lot of them for the last few months. The gangs were getting smarter, not daring to do anything that could even remotely upset Roman.

All the more reason for her to be surprised to learn that someone massacred one of their outposts. No one had done anything as bold as this in years. But the intriguing part about all of this was that they had absolutely no clue as to who organised the attack. Ever since then Roman was on his legs 24/7.

He even reached the point where Neo would tell him to stop and take a little break.

She sighed as she decided to take another stroll around the base. It was a big and old complex of warehouses, with a bunch of additional rooms and quarters, located in the industrial district. It was bought by some company a long time ago, shortly before its disbandment. It was forgotten and never used again. Not in the legal way at least.

The multicoloured girl took out her scroll. _9:52 PM__. _Roman was going to be back soon. He'd been away the entire day trying to find the mysterious offenders. He would come back, as always, empty handed and frustrated beyond belief. And Neo, as a good friend and partner she was, took it upon herself to help him relieve all the stress. Neo didn't care what Roman planned on doing once he was back. She was going to take him to the bedroom and make h-

Suddenly, she felt her scroll vibrate. She could see it was a message from Roman. Well, speak of the devil.

_"I'll be back later than expected, something happened in the docks and it requires my presence."_

Neo's face turned into a scowl.

_"can't they deal with it themselves?"_

_"Well, apparently not__. Anyway, try not to go crazy while I'm gone."_

_"no promises"_

She tucked her scroll away, scowl still on her face. Now she had to wait for him even longer. _'And what am I supposed to do now?'_

Of course, she could always go and torment Roman's subordinates for fun. Given how unsatisfied he was with them, she doubted he would mind all that much. The problem was, however, that it was not as much fun as it used to be. Most of the thugs stationed at the base were veterans, not some rookies. Sure, they were still afraid of her, but they were not pissing themselves anymore, which was all the fun.

Hoping for something interesting to come up, she decided to take a walk around their base. After a few minutes of walking around and throwing glances at random goons, which made them nervous to no end, she decided to go to her room. And when she said room, that's what she meant: an actual room, like those you can find in almost every house in Vale, just a bit tinier and dirtier, Roman had his own room too. While all the insignificant people at their disposal ever got was some lien, provided they earned it, Roman made sure to make Neo and himself feel as comfortable as possible. After all, Roman's fourth most loved thing, after Neo, power and lien, was luxury.

Neo pushed the door open, went to her bed and just fell face first on it. After a few moments she turned over, her eyes scanning her room for something, _anything _to catch her attention. But no matter how hard she looked, everything was the same. The same pink-white-brown coloured walls, a mini-fridge filled with ice cream, a man-sized teddy bear, that she won in some amusement park. Or did she steal it? Ah, whatever. The point is, now she had to wait for Roman in this dumb room while he's in some dumb docks doing dumb things that his dumb grunts couldn't do.

She _hated _it. She hated when Roman was away from her. That way she couldn't know if he needed her help. That way he was alone, with no one to come to his aid. For all she knew, he was in grave danger right now and there was nothing she could do to save him.What if their mysterious foe was laying a trap for him in the docks? What if it all was just a complicated police operation to apprehend the most infamous criminal? And what if there was some kind of accident?

_'Oh, great,' _Neo thought to herself, feeling how fast her heart started beating, _'I'm giving myself an anxiety over nothing. Even without me he is more than capable of taking care of himself.'_ She took a few deep and calming breaths. Slowly, as she laid there, she noticed that it was significantly harder to keep her eyes open. At first she tried to fight it, to stay awake. Eventually, though, she gave in and drifted off into sleep.

_It was raining, it was always raining_. _The girl__ tried to find someplace to get away from the neverending rain, but wherever she went, she was not welcome.__It didn't matter where she went or what she did, the girl always ended up under the rain again. Wherever the girl looked, she could see only gray._

_She wanted to use her umbrella, but when she tried to reach for it she remembered that she didn't even have it, she didn't have anything at all._

_There was nothing for the girl left to do but wander the empty night streets, devoid of any colour, under the rain for what felt like eternity. _

_The girl was so used to being the only one out in the streets that a sight of another figure made her stop in her tracks.__ The figure was taller than her, and yet it looked just as miserable as the girl felt. The figure was wandering aimlessly, just like the girl, too. And the figure was, like everything around her, devoid of any colour. Or was it? From this distance it was hard for her to tell, but it seemed like his head was... on fire? The rain didn't let up. Soon the figure was out of the girl's sight. After a moment the girl resumed her roaming._

_After some time the girl found herself shaking in a small cardboard box. How did she end up here_?

_How long had she been on the streets? The more she thought about it, the heavier the rain seemed to get. Suddenly her musings were interrupted by the sound of feet stepping in the puddles. The girl stopped breathing, hoping for the sounds of footfalls to cease. They did when a figure stopped right in front of her little safehouse. She could only see the figure's legs, but something told her it was the figure from before._

_The figure stood still for the moment, before it started to bend over. The fear paralyzed the girl. She would see the figure's faceless and scary head, and then the figure would start shouting at her and-_

_Abruptly__, all the the thoughts that twirled in her head stopped dead. The girl blinked. Before her was the most colourful and strangest figure she had ever seen. Two bright green emeralds were shining in a place a normal person would have eyes. A bright orange fire was raging on the top of it's head. It was the most colourful sight in her life. And the most beautiful._ _Something was telling her to go to the colours and just as she leaned forward-_

The sudden crashing sounds instantly awoke Neo from her slumber. Acting on instinct, she grabbed her parasol, Hush, and bolted outside expecting trouble. Instead, a sight of several thugs standing around a now broken create greeted her.

"Crap," one of the thugs mumbled under his breath upon seeing Neo, "Sorry, boss we'll take care of the mess this instant." The thugs quickly got to work as Neo rubbed her face and released a silent sigh.

As the multi coloured girl pulled out her scroll she decided to check the time. _11:23 PM. _She figured that Roman was probably already done with the issue and was on his way back. And even if he was not, she'll tell him to drop it for now and get some rest. Not that he would listen.

Guessing that Roman was probably tired and stressed after such a day she decided to lighten him up a bit.

"_w__hat all the fuss was about? Some1 finally offed Junior?))"_

It's not like she _hated _Junior, but she thought he wasn't the most reliable person. Sure he looks tough, and he was very useful to them on occasions, but with some pressure he will undoubtedly crack and rat out everyone he can.

Roman's reply came, as always, almost immediately.

_"__I'm afraid not, some crazy lady burned down a warehouse and now wants to arrange a meeting"_

Well, now that's definitely sounds interesting.

_"ooh__ she sounds like fun) what u gonna do?"_

_"We'll discuss that after I'm back"_

At this Neo just pouted playfully, even though Roman couldn't see it.

_" :( sometimes u r no fun"_

_"Don't you worry, my dear, there'll be plenty of fun when I get back"_

The girl couldn't help the smile that formed on get face as she read the message. She was looking forward to finding out what kind of 'fun' Roman meant.

_" :) k__"_

When no new messages appeared she tucked the scroll into her pocket and headed for the the area near the entrance. Roman should be back soon.

**Well, I guess that's it for now. Still getting used to this whole writing thing.**

**Thank you all for your reviews. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: sorry for the wait. Was a bit busy recently. I'll try to do better.**

_NEO_

_20 minutes later._

_'I swear to god, if he's not here_ _before midnight I'll put a tracker into his suit the next time he goes somewhere. And his hat. And his cane, just in case.' _It's been almost half an hour since their little chat. Roman was supposed to be here already, considering the dock area wasn't that far and empty night streets would surely make any trip faster.

_'Apparently not.'_

With nothing to do, she just sat on the railings, at least 4 meters above the entrance, waiting for the doors to open and an orange haired criminal to walk in. Then she would jump off the railings and float down gracefully with her parasol. After all, Roman was not the only one with the knack for dramatic appearance.

But the more she waited, the more she wanted to just jump down and wait for him in a more comfortable spot, like sofa. And yet, the desire to be as theatrical as possible was stronger.

Well that, and the hope of him being too tired to notice her, which she would use to get a jump on him. She giggled at the mere thought of it. Oh, that would be hilarious!

Her musings were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of a car approaching.

_'About time.' _Neo rolled her eyes as she listened carefully to the sound outside.

The sound of screeching tires. The car doors opening and closing. Footsteps. She prepared her trusty parasol. The door finally opened.

And there he was. Despite his not-so-steady walk and half-closed eyes, which was not at all surprising, he seemed to be alright.

Well, there she goes.

She quickly jumped up, now standing on the railings. A moment later she was in the air, perfectly executing a somersault. Then Neo opened her parasol and floated down with her eyes closed (Roman always told her to be as confident as situation allows, makes for a better show). As the girl landed, she, as every good performer, took a bow with one hand outstretched back and the other holding her open parasol just over her head.

She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before looking up to see Roman's reaction.

Needless to say, a yawn wasn't exactly what she was hoping for.

Neo narrowed her eyes the way that would usually send people scurrying away, put a hand on her hip and leaned on her parasol as if it was a cane. Her whole posture dared him to tell her what was wrong with her perfectly choreographed performance.

As Roman's offensive yawn came to an end he looked at her "I appreciate the show, I really do, ice cream, but all my focus is currently directed at not falling asleep where I stand."

Looking at him more carefully, she could tell that he looked even worse than usual. The bags under his eyes seemed big enough to fit in Vale's entire Dust supply. Not only that, but the effort it took him to keep his eyes open was obvious to her.

After a brief moment of consideration she decided to let the offense go for now. She'll have her vengeance later.

As the bright and innocent smile returned to her face, Roman sighed tiredly and set course for his quarters. Neo quickly fell in behind him.

As they made their way, she took her time to study him. It was clear he was too exhausted to do _anything._ A sigh escaped her lips. _'Looks like there w__on't be any 'fun' tonight.'_

Soon they reached his room. Roman opened the door with the key and walked in, Neo following suit.

Roman's room was the same size as Neo's. That's where the similarities ended, however.

The walls were pure white, the floor covered in some expensively looking carpet. A wardrobe with all his fancy suits stood right next to the door. A big TV occupied almost half of the wall, a king-sized bed stood in the opposite end of the room with a drawer and a table nearby. Literal royal chambers. By criminal standards, of course.

Turning to face her, Roman took off his hat before placing it on the drawer near the bed.

"Hate to break it to ya, but I'm in no mood for any activity tonight, so please save your lust for some other time."

Neo just placed a hand over her heart, recoiled in mock shock and gasped, as if saying _"I would NEVER think of such a thing"_

Roman just stood there unimpressed. Rolling her eyes, she laid her parasol on the table, went over to his bed and flopped down on it. With arms behind her head she motioned for him to join her.

Sighing, Roman took off his suit and carefully placed it in the drawer. No matter how tired he was, Roman would **NEVER **sleep with his favourite suit on. That would only ruin it, and he had to uphold his reputation of the most fashionable criminal in the city.

Putting his cane near the drawer, he got into the bed. Judging by his face, the euphoria of finally laying in the bed washed over him immediately.

Grabbing a blanket, she pulled it over them and got as close to Roman as it was possible before laying her head on his shoulder.

Roman mumbled something unintelligible and dozed off. Smiling, she drifted off to sleep too.

This time the dreams were pleasant.

_Roman_

_The next day_

Roman didn't know how much time he spent sleeping, he just knew it wasn't enough. Opening his eyes and keeping them that way proved way more challenging than he would have liked. Every part of his body, as well as his brain, protested against any of his attempts to get up. He would gladly spend a couple more hours in the bed with Neo, but he had a work to do, _a lot of it._

Speaking of Neo, he turned his head to see his partner by his side, as always. Judging by her face and her cute little smile, the dream she had was too sweet to be interrupted.

Deciding that not even he was cruel enough to ruin the girl's sweet dreams, he tried to be as quiet as possible.

Slowly, barely making any noise he got dressed, took his cane and his scroll and made his way to the door. Leaving his room, he casted one last glance at Neo before silently closing the door.

Now outside, almost all traces of his good mood were swept away by the prospect of all the work he had to do.

_'I wonder what kind of trouble I'll have to deal with today.'_

Mentally preparing himself for anything life could possibly throw at him, he headed for his planning office. There he would get all updates on the current situation in the Vale's underworld and prepare for the meeting with a mysterious woman.

Passing the goons who were hard at work (that is, if their work was to stand around and talk), he saw one of his trusted lieutenants, Ash, berating a group of henchmen.

He was really good when it came to intimidation, his massive height helped a lot. He had grey hair and eyes (he wore grey contact lenses, thought it'd be cool to have grey eyes for some reason), and a face with quite a few scars on it.

But the scary looks and a loud booming voice wasn't the reason he was considered Roman's greatest subordinate and lieutenant (second only to Neo, of course). His organisation and combat skills earned him the position near the top.

As Roman approached the group, the sound of his cane immediately alerted them to his presence. Ash dismissed the group and went towards Roman.

"Maintaining morale, I see." Roman greeted his lieutenant with a slight chuckle.

"Someone's gotta, since you're away the entire day, boss."

"What, Neo not good enough for you?" Roman joked.

Ash grimaced "Yeah, I'd rather not clean up after her."

Roman just smiled at it. Together they went to the planning room. When they were almost there, Ash spoke up.

"Hey boss, what exactly happened in the docks yesterday? The information I got was rather... dubious at best."

Roman just sighed. "Some lady turned one of the warehouses into the biggest bonfire in Vale just to get my attention. Now she wants to arrange a date."

The orange haired criminal hummed in thought. "When I put it like this, it sounds kinda romantic."

His aide's expression remained completely stoic, as always.

"Ok, so what's the plan?"

"The plan right now is to make a plan."

As they made their way through the base, he felt his scroll vibrate. Guessing it was a message from Neo, he didn't waste a second pulling it out. Activating his device, he was not disappointed.

_"running off after a night with a girl? typical you_"

Roman smiled and typed a reply.

_"You know me, always on the move. Right now I'm moving towards the planning room, meet us there."_

_"okie-dokie"_

Not even a minute later, they were already in the planning room. It was a spacious room with a table designed for ten people in the center of it. The table had nine chairs and one armchair at the head of it. A whiteboard stood to the side. There was also a projector aimed at the white wall for presentation.

Right now Roman and Ash were the only people present, but that was enough for now. Upon creating a general plan of action they would gather the rest to work out the details. Neo would also be here soon anyway.

Roman immediately went for his armchair and landed in it. The armchair spinned around before stopping so that Roman was facing Ash, who sat on one of the chairs to Roman's left. Then the ginger made himself feel comfortable by putting his feet on the table.

Not wasting any time, Ash started "Did this lady mention the location and the time of the meeting?"

"Yeah, she wants to see me tomorrow midnight at the docks."

"So soon?" his voice carried a bit of surprise.

"I know, seems like she's on a very tight schedule."

After a short pause, Ash asked again. "Did she make any demands or anything?"

Ginger shook his head. "No, she just said she had an offer for me."

"A business offer? Sounds like a great way to lure someone like you out right into an ambush." Ash suggested.

Before Roman could respond, he caught something in his peripheral vision. Turning his head to the right, he saw Neo sitting right across Ash, examining her pink fingernails. He was pretty sure she wasn't there just a second ago.

"Ah, Neo, how nice of you to join us." Roman greeted the multicoloured girl.

"Boss." Ash slightly nodded to her.

She, in turn, nodded and went back to looking at her nails.

Knowing full well that she was listening, Roman continued. "Yeah, it might be a trap but even then, something's not right here."

Ash just arched an eyebrow.

Roman tried to explain. "Ok, let's imagine that you want to kill me. What would be the best way to do it? Through an element of surprise, of course. Perhaps you want to ambush me while I'm out in the city, or poison me, or even hire someone, all the while not letting me know of your existence. After all, it's harder to defend from someone you don't even know is hunting you."

He took a dramatic pause.

"But what if you arrange a meeting with me? That would be suspicious as hell, considering I don't know you, even though I know everyone in the underworld. It's only natural that I would be ready for anything. And if you attacked my outposts and _then _tried to arrange a meeting?" He scoffed. "You're effectively telling me not to come."

Ash frowned, trying to get what his boss was driving at. "So, you're saying you are not going?"

Roman scoffed. "No, I'm saying that if you want someone dead, you do anything, except for exactly what she did. The way I see it, she just showed us what she's capable of, so that we know she means business. Maybe she wants to threaten me, maybe she wants to join, having illustrated her potential usefulness, though I doubt it."

Ash looked deep in thought while Neo was playing some game on her scroll. Roman rolled his eyes. She never liked planning sessions.

After a few moments Ash spoke up. "What's the plan then. How do you want to do it?"

"Easy, I'll be on the ground, doing all the talking. Neo," he pointed at the girl, who just waved, not looking up from her scroll. "will handle my security. She'll hide on a nearby roof, coming out only if something happens. Also, I want twenty men on a standby not far from the docks. If everything goes south, we'll have some canon fodder, just in case." He finished with a smile.

Ash nodded. They remained silent for some time, before Roman suddenly stood up, spread his hands and said in a jolly voice. "Well, I think that concludes our meeting. Thank you all for taking _active_ part in it." As he finished he glanced at Neo, who bowed mockingly, as if saying _"always happy to assist"._ As they walked out of the room, Roman turned his head to Ash. "Prepare a team for tomorrow."

The lieutenant nodded and started walking before being grabbed by the shoulder.

"Oh, and if something comes up, deal with it, don't bother me today, unless it's _absolutely _necessary."

"Will do, boss."

When Roman and Neo were alone, the girl looked at Roman with a raised eyebrow.

Her partner chuckled. "I just decided to have a day off. Gotta be ready for tomorrow."

A pause.

"So, what you wanna do, cupcake?"

A mischievous smile adorned the girl's face.

**That's it for now, folks. This chapter turned out to be a bit shorter than the last one. But, again, I'll do better in the future.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews.** **I'll be happy for any tips and suggestions you have on how to make the story better.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here's the fourth chapter.** **I don't know what's the deal with the dialogues, but I always have hard time writing them. **

**And, again, thanks for the reviews. I'm really happy that you guys like the story.**

**_Cinder_**

_The night of the meeting. 11:44 PM_

The docks were, as per usual, quiet. This area was generally calm to begin with, but ever since the 'accident', as the media called her attack on the warehouse, dock workers and police made sure to avoid this place like the plague. The only time police actually set foot here was the morning following the attack. Even then, they didn't do anything. The rubble, that once was a warehouse storing crates of dust and equipment, was still there. Perhaps it didn't do any good to the general scenery of the area, but at least it would serve as the example for the Vale's crimelord, Roman Torchwick, what Cinder was capable of.

The woman in question was currently standing in front of the debris, patiently waiting for the local criminal boss to arrive. To be completely honest, the idea of acquiring services of some crook didn't sit well with her. Sure, Vale's underworld considered him to be someone powerful and important, but she knew that compared to her he was insignificant, he was nothing.

And yet, she needed his help. He was the perfect tool for her master's plans in Vale. He had information and manpower, the things she currently lacked. White Fang could provide her with manpower, without a doubt, but they needed time. Unfortunately, time wasn't something she had, either.

And so here she was, setting up a meeting and offering Torchwick a deal, as if they were equal. Well, she would break this illusion the moment he arrived and let him know that he now worked for her.

It could prove somewhat difficult, considering he'd spent the last few years in charge of everything. It's only natural that he would not be thrilled about the idea of taking orders from someone. But the idea of losing his life would appeal to him even less. So Cinder had little doubt about the choice he would make.

That is, unless he was stupid enough to actually try and fight her. But she was certain that he had enough self preservation instinct to do the right thing to save his skin and submit to her.

And even if she had to fight him, she figured that his death would immediately set all the gangs and mobsters loose, throwing city into a turmoil. So it's a win-win for her anyway. Though it would be better to keep him around and do her work for a time being.

After about ten minutes of waiting she started wondering if he would come at all.

_'He'd better be coming, and soon. Finding him will be hard to do on my own and I don't have near enough time for this. I'd rather not switch to plan B if it can be helped.'_

Before long, however, most of her concerns disappeared. She could faintly hear the sound of an approaching car. Considering that this place had no visitors in days, she was pretty sure about the identity of the late visitor.

She was soon proven right, when a white car came into her view. The car was similar to those used by upper classes to boast about how rich they were. The car looked ridiculously of place, with all the warehouses, containers and whatnot around. Cinder really doubted it was an international businessman in the car who got lost on the way to his five star hotel. It had to be Torchwick.

The car came to a stop and a passenger door opened. An orange haired young man, probably in his mid or late twenties, got out of the car. He was wearing a bowler hat, snowy white suit. With a cigar in his mouth and a cane in his hand the man started towards Cinder.

It was definitely Torchwick.

Looking at the man approaching her, Cinder found herself a bit surprised by what she saw. She didn't expect Vale's criminal boss to be this young. Going by the information she was given, she expected him to be in his late thirties at least. As it turns out, he might actually be younger than her.

She also didn't expect him to be alone. Well, she wasn't stupid, she knew he had some of his people around, but she expected him to have someone by his side. By that _someone, _she meant the mysterious girl under his command that is said to be a Huntress level.

The little information she had about the girl came mostly from rumours. She didn't know what she looked like, what was her fighting style, even the intel on her Semblance was contradictory. Some said it was teleportation, while others told her it was illusions. Whatever the case, she knew two things for certain: the girl was the _best_ fighter in the criminal world and she worked for Torchwick. Cinder could certainly use some help like this. Maybe if the girl was a gun for hire, like some people assumed, she could employ her for further operations after they were done with Vale and Roman was dead. That is, if she wasn't personally loyal to Roman. That way, she'd have to kill both of them after they were done here. Not a problem for Cinder, but she felt it'd be a waste of potential.

Pressing these thoughts aside, she focused on a criminal right in front of her.

When he was just a couple of meters away from her, he stopped. He quickly looked her over before smirking.

"Well, looks like my subordinate wasn't exaggerating your beauty. To be honest, I don't even mind your attacks on my men, seeing you is definitely worth it," Torchwick winked at her.

She barely managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she put on her best sweet-yet-predatory smile and made a few steps towards the man. He watched her every move but otherwise remained in place.

"I take it you are Roman Torchwick?" She already knew the answer, of course.

"The one and only, my dear," The man spread his arms and replied proudly.

Taking the initiative, he asked. "Now, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of seeing you before, which is just a shame. Care to share your name, gorgeous?"

The woman smirked. "You may call me Cinder."

"That is quite a name," he raised his eyebrow, one that wasn't covered by his red hair.

After a short pause Roman spoke.

"I was told you have a deal for me. I really hope it's worth all the mess you've caused in the last couple of weeks."

"Believe me, it is. You could even call it a deal of a lifetime."

Scepticism was written all over Roman's face, and yet he was intrigued by such books words.

"I'm all ears then."

"I have some business in the city that needs to be done. Unfortunately, doing it all on my own would prove troublesome and very time-consuming. You, on the other hand, have resources and manpower. With your assistance, my operations will be done much quicker."

"Well," He still sounded doubtful. "What is the goal of this operation of yours, anyway?"

"Uh-uh-uh," she waved her finger right in front of his face. "I can't let you know, unless I'm absolutely sure that you're on my side. I'm sure you understand my precautions, it's nothing personal." Her smile never left her face.

She didn't trust the man in front of her, not one bit. Even after he's joined her, Cinder planned on keeping him in the dark about her plans as long as possible. He was just a pawn, after all.

Judging by Roman's face, he was not pleased with the answer, but there wasn't much he could do. So, after a brief pause he asked the most important question.

"Let's say that I've been gracious enough to lend you my help, what would I get? I already have anything I could've possibly wished for."

Here was the question the woman waited for. Truth be told, Cinder spent a lot of time trying to come up with some lie that would ensure his help. But he was right, he had everything: money, power, fear and respect. That's why in the end she decided to go with good old intimidation. Perhaps there wasn't much she could give him, but she certainly could take away his life. Hopefully, he would come to the same conclusion, given her previous show of force.

Roman continued staring at her expectantly.

She took another step towards the orange haired man. They were less than a meter apart now.

"You would get to live," She spoke slowly, with confidence, the predatory smile ever present.

There was a brief moment of silence. Roman's face betrayed no emotion whatsoever and he stood still as a statue.

Suddenly he erupted in laughter, as if it was the best joke he'd ever heard, the sound echoing all over the docks. That continued for a while.

Cinder expected that kind of reaction, and so she didn't react to his sudden fit of laughter in any way.

Eventually, he stopped. Wiping tears from his eyes, he directed his attention to her once more.

"Good one, for a moment there I thought you were serious. The delivery was priceless," he started chuckling again.

Having enough of this, Cinder outstretched her hand and formed a fireball over her palm.

Roman's laughter abruptly stopped, but he didn't seem to be surprised at all. He looked at her, the smile gone, his grip on his cane tightened.

"I'm afraid I don't have time for jokes," she said. "And I suggest you think very carefully about your answer. I don't take too kindly to people rejecting me."

**_Roman_**

_'__What a bitch.'_

At the moment Roman was feeling a bunch of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he was eternally pleased with himself for predicting what this whole thing was about. Well, kinda, he didn't actually think the woman before him would be that insolent. On the other hand, he was not happy with the woman threatening him._ Threatening._ _Him, _of all people.

_'Looks like she needs to be taught some manners.'_

Despite her cool looking fire abilities, he had little worries about her being a trouble. All she did was beat up a couple of idiots without auras. Against him, Neo and 20 more idiots without auras she probably stood little chance.

He put a hand under his chin theatrically, cast his gaze upwards and hummed, as if he was even considering her offer.

In truth, however, he made an eye contact with _certain someone _on the roof of a nearby warehouse, the one that wasn't a pile of rubble.

It was just a brief moment, barely half a second, but that was enough for his partner to get the message.

Figuring that all hell would break loose in just a few moments, he decided to have some fun with her one last time.

"Very well, I accept the deal."

"Excellent," The self assured smile she wore was really annoying him already. The desire to punch her increased drastically.

_'Huh, I wonder if that's what people who talk to me feel like?'_

Before Cinder could say something else, he held up a finger.

"One condition, though."

The woman didn't seem surprised, she probably expected that.

"And what would that be, dear Roman?"

"Could you send nudes on my scroll?"

"..."

"..."

"Wha-"

Not giving her even a chance to react, he lifted his cane and fired it point blank. The force of explosion sent the woman flying straight towards the warehouse where Neo was waiting. Cinder's body crashed through the wall and disappeared inside the building. Although it was very brief, he could remember clearly the look of confusion, followed by one of total surprise on her face. Roman smiled in delight, he would not forget that face.

Dropping his cigar on the ground and stomping it, he waited for the woman to walk out through the hole she made, only to be instantly attacked by Neo, who was currently sitting at the edge of a roof with her feet dangling. As for his cannon fodder, they should have heard the explosion and would be here shortly.

A minute passed, but still no sign of Cinder.

_'I didn't kill her, did I? That would be rather anticlimactic.'_ The next moment he got his answer in a form of a fireball coming straight for his head. Thankfully, Roman managed to dodge it, but just barely. The fireball almost took his hat off.

Looking at the direction it came form, he saw _very displeased _Cinder. Her beautiful red dress acquired a few new holes and tears, and her hair was now a mess.

"Careful there," he yelled. "Do you have the slightest idea how expensive that hat is? Not that I _bought _it, but still."

Growling, the woman made two more fireballs and prepared to send them his way...

...only to be interrupted by a strike to the head from behind. The surprise and sheer force of the attack sent Cinder on the ground. To her credit, though, the woman recovered instantly, jumping to her feet to face the new assailant.

Neo stood in front of her, holding her open parasol over the head and looking at Cinder with those innocent two-coloured eyes.

Cinder regarded the girl warily before looking at Roman once again.

"You are dead, Torchwick."

"And here I was thinking there was something special between us," the way he feigned the hurt on his face could probably win him a few acting awards.

Not wasting any more time, Cinder pulled out two swords. No wait, they just appeared in her hands, just like the fireballs.

_'Looks like she has quite a lot of tricks up her sleeve.'_

Armed with swords, she came at Neo. The multicoloured girl blocked the first sword with her parasol and evaded the other, immediately delivering a kick to the abdomen that was easily sidesteped by the woman. Cinder than swinged her swords from both directions, which would deal quite a damage to Neo's aura, had she not shattered upon contact with Cinder's weapons.

Neo took advantage of Cinder's momentarily confusion and appeared behind her. She jabbed her hidden blade into Cinder's back, only for it to be immediately parried by the woman who turned around just in time. Neo, who didn't expect Cinder to react so swiftly, was caught off guard and got elbowed right in the face. She staggered back, completely open to Cinder's attacks.

Roman, as the gentleman he was, could not leave his lady in danger. He quickly aimed his cane at the woman's back and fired. Unfortunately, Cinder heard the shot and ducked just in time for the missile to fly overhead. Forgetting about Neo, she came at him.

She sent a few fireballs his way while charging him. He managed to dodge all of them, which was exactly what Cinder hoped for. Not paying enough attention to her, he did not notice how close she came to him until a sword hit his aura.

Reeling back in pain he barely managed to bring up his cane in time to block the second sword.

_'Wow, that's quite a punch she can pack. I don't think I can take a lot of hits like this.'_

Cinder continued her unrelenting assault, putting Roman on the defensive. He managed to block any and all slashes and strikes sent at him, but could not return the favour, unless he wanted to take another hit.

Thankfully, Neo was soon there to help Roman deal with the annoyingly good fighter. She attacked her from behind, forcing Cinder to concentrate her attention on Neo monetarily. That was enough for Roman. The moment the assault stopped he swinged his cane and hit Cinder right in the back of her knee, making her lose ballance. Neo capitalised on it and thrust her trusty weapon in Cinder's chest. The woman blocked it with both of her swords and instantly paid for it. The partners in crime took the opportunity and delivered simultaneous strikes to side of her head. Cinder's aura still held, but the woman herself was now on the ground.

They didn't waste any time kicking her weapons away from her. After that, Roman pressed his right foot right on the woman's throat, pinning her down. Cinder grabbed his foot with both her hands to ease up the pressure. Neo stood next Roman with a victorious smirk on her face.

"Gotta admit," Roman started. "Didn't think you would put up that much of a fight."

"Feeling's mutual," Cinder grinded through her teeth. "But the fight isn't over just yet."

Before Roman could react, she raised her hand and pointed it at him. Not a moment later he felt a fireball impact his chest that sent him flying. After sailing through the air for a second or two, his back slammed into a container.

Now on the ground, Roman tried to pull himself up, but all his attempts proved futile. The fireball and the crash depleted his aura almost entirely, his entire body hurt as hell and it was a miracle he was still conscious. Looking back at the battlefield, he could see Neo doing her best to kill the woman in a red dress. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck.

_'Great job, you idiot! That's what you get for underestimating your enemies,' _Roman mentally scolded himself.

_'But maybe I can still be of use. Just gotta reach my-' _his cane was currently laying on the ground, where he'd been hit. Great.

_'Crap, in this state and without my weapon I'm practically useless. Speaking of useless, where the hell are those idiots? It's about time they show up.'_

As if on cue, Roman heard the sound of cars approaching. He must've missed it during the fighting, but the sound was gradually getting closer and closer.

And there they were, ramming through the closed gate. 2 white vans, 20 people in total: Ash and 19 henchmen.

The cars stopped right next to Roman. As people poured out, he felt someone grab his shoulder.

"Boss, you alright?" Ash asked him, holding his double headed axe. His weapon could also transform into a crossbow, which was actually an assault rifle shooting regular dust rounds. When Roman asked him why he made it look like a crossbow, he got a simple answer: 'Looks cool.'

"I'm fine," he nodded. "Go and help Neo finish the bitch."

Ash nodded and waved his men to follow him before running of towards the raging battle.

Roman tried getting up again, but no such luck. All he could do was just wait and hope that Neo can handle this dangerous adversary.

**_Neo_**

Things were definitely not looking up for the girl. This Cinder proved to be more trouble than expected. While she and Roman managed to get the upper hand at first, everything went downhill pretty fast after that. At first the bitch in red knocked Roman out of the fight with a fireball to his chest. Seeing Roman fly past her and hit a container, before slumping on the ground barely moving, made Neo freeze in place for a few precious moments. Cinder used it to stand up and get into a defensive posture. When the shock finally wore off, Neo wanted nothing more than to gut the woman right then and there. Unfortunately, it was a rather difficult task.

Currently, they were circling each other, trying to find an opening in their opponent's defences. That continued for a short while before the woman in red dress spoke up.

"You are truly a remarkable fighter, much better than Roman. How come you are working for him? If you ask me, that's just a waste of potential. You could easily outmatch most of the hunters out there, and yet, what are your doing here? Stealing, robbing and murdering people in alleyways?" Cinder stopped circling her, Neo following suit.

"I have a deal for you. Perhaps you will be wiser than Roman and accept it. Come work for me and -"

Whatever else she wanted to say was interrupted by a Neo's blade impacting the woman's aura. While the Cinder was monologuing and trying to convince Neo to betray Roman and join her instead (which was a ridiculous offer to begin with), the multicoloured girl created an illusion of her listening to woman, while she got closer and attacked.

Neo moved in for the second strike, but Cinder managed to parry it and with a growl she sent a fireball Neo's way, who brought her parasol up just in time to block it.

Unexpectedly, a crashing sound brought their duel to a halt as both women turned their heads to find the source of the sound.

Two white vans came crashing through the gate and stopped not far from them. Neo smirked. Now Cinder was in for a trouble.

Apparently, the woman in question came to the same conclusion. Neo saw her forming yet another fireball.

_'Oh for god's sake, do something new for a change.'_ But instead of sending it at Neo, who would easily dodge it anyway, the fireball struck the ground between them. The force of explosion was strong enough to send huge debris in all directions. Neo was pushed back several meters by the shock wave. Landing, she tried to locate Cinder, but smoke and dust, raised by explosion, obscured her vision. After all of it cleared away, she saw that the bitch was nowhere to be found.

Turning around at the sound of approaching footsteps, she saw Ash leading a bunch of their henchmen, weapons ready.

"Where's the target, boss?" he asked upon reaching her.

The girl shrugged. On the one hand, she was glad that Cinder ran away, _technically _it meant that they won. On the other hand, Neo herself didn't consider it a victory. Not until that woman laid dead at her feet.

Looking around, she could see that the men Ash brought with him were now sweeping the area. Then her eyes landed on one particular object. A cane.

_'Roman!'_

Quickly running to it and picking the item up, she showed it to Ash, worry visible on her face. Thankfully, Ash knew what she meant.

"He's already in a van. He's fine, but his aura took quite a beating," Ash motioned to the first vehicle.

Nodding, Neo ran off, leaving Ash alone.

Upon reaching the van, she was greeted with a comforting sight. Roman sat inside the vehicle, no injuries or blood. That was good. The only signs of the recent fight were his ruined suit and his exhausted state.

Noticing Neo, a smile lit up the criminal's face.

"Ah, Neo, coming out on top as ever, I see."

The petite girl nodded proudly.

"Is she dead?"

This time Neo shook her head.

They remained silent for some time, until, sighing, Roman spoke up.

"So, to sum up: a huntress level pyromaniac wanted to recruit us to do her dirty work. As a reasonable man that I am, I politely declined her offer and now she wants our heads. Oh, and also she's scary as hell in a fight. Hmm, I think that's it."

Putting a finger under her chin, Neo thought about what her partner said before enthusiastically nodding.

Lighting his cigar up, Roman couldn't help but voice the question that lingered on his mind.

"I wonder what we got ourselves into."

**That's it, my first chapter with action scenes. Man, they are harder to write than I thought.****Anyway, goodbye for now and stay safe with the coronavirus in full swing.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Cinder_**

The door to Cinder's hideout flew open as the woman in tattered red dress stormed inside. She didn't even stop to close the door and made a beeline straight towards her quarters. The sudden sound alerted the other occupants of the building.

The first to show up was a girl with a medium-brown skin, green hair and red eyes. Despite her rather revealing clothes, she did a good job of looking intimidatingly. Expecting trouble after such a violent entrance, she came fully combat ready, with both her sickles out, preparing to take on anyone stupid enough to storm their hideaway in such a brazen manner. She probably didn't expect to find Cinder, who looked like she just finished a fight with a pack of Grimm. Emerald froze in place for a moment before lowering her weapons.

"What is it, Em? Is it worth getting off the couch to see?," the male voice, coming from the room Emerald stormed out of, awoke the girl from the stupor.

"W-what happend, Cinder?! Are you alright?" Ignoring the voice, the green haired girl asked her boss in worry and made a few steps towards her before being stopped by an outstretched palm.

"I appreciate your concern Emerald, but I'm perfectly fine. Just a ruined dress," Cinder's tone was as calm as ever, her anger and frustration having seemingly completely dissipated.

Emerald was about to ask her another question, when a third figure walked into a room.

It was a young and well built man with grey hair. He also wore a slate gray and black jacket that covered his upper body.

He stopped right beside Emerald and whistled.

"I take it things didn't go quite as planned, did they?"

"There were some complications," the woman answered. "I'm afraid our job here has just become a bit more difficult."

There was a short pause. Finally, Emerald spoke.

"So, what are we gonna do now? We can't really do much without the manpower. The White Fang needs more time to gather men, but we can't just sit back and wait for them. We have to do something."

"I'm fully aware of the situation," replied Cinder, slightly annoyed. "But you are right. If we are to succeed, then we need men, as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there won't be help from White Fang any time soon. That means we'll have to take matters into our own hands."

"Finally some action!" Mercury exclaimed. "But what exactly are we gonna do?"

Cinder's smile grew menacingly.

"If we take out Torchwick, it will inevitably provoke the war between gangs, causing chaos and destruction. I'm certain that there will be plenty of men for hire in the mess, that the underworld will become after losing its ruler."

Mercury and Emerald nodded, seeing sense in their boss's plan.

"Sounds good," said the grey haired criminal. "But how are we gonna find him? I doubt he will agree to another meeting."

"Don't worry about it Mercury, I have prepared a back up plan just for the situation like this."

The woman walked past the duo and then stopped. Looking over her shoulder, she said

"We will start at morning, so I'd advise you to go to sleep now. We have a lot of work ahead of us and I need you in a good shape."

With that Cinder walked off.

**_Roman_**

"For god's sake Neo, you're taking it too seriously. You heard the Doc, it's nothing to worry about."

To say that Roman loved Neo's company would be a major understatement. Most of the time he wouldn't even consider trading it for anything else in the world. But sometimes, when she was too worried about him, she would treat him like a handicapped nine year old. Needless to say, Roman didn't fancy feeling like a handicapped nine year old.

At the moment he was lying on his bed in a new and clean T-Shirt with Jack-o'-lanterns on it and an ice pack pressed to his temple.

When Roman hit the container, after Cinder sent him flying, his head took quite a hit. At first he tried to ignore the pain, but it soon became clear that it wasn't going away anytime soon and it started really bothering him. Neo was worried that Roman might have gotten a concussion, but Ash was quick to reassure both Roman and Neo that he lacked the symptoms caused by the concussion, such as the loss of consciousness, slurred speech, delayed response to questions and forgetfulness.

The pair was quite surprised by Ash's extensive medical knowledge. Though it did turn out that he actually used his scroll to search for information.

After they had reached their base, their medic, whom everyone simply called the Doc, confirmed that it wasn't a concussion and there was no danger to Roman's health. However, the Doc advised him to get as much rest as possible and stay in bed. That way the headache would soon be gone.

With that in mind, they reasonably decided to postpone any planning sessions until the next day in order to let Roman rest. The criminal in question didn't mind at all. He was all too happy for the opportunity to get a proper rest in a long time. Not long after the Doc's prognosis, Roman was already in his bed, sleep overtaking him almost instantly.

The next day his headache was still present. It was not as severe as the day before, but still. His now free time he planned on spending by watching a Spruce Willis movie, since there was a new one soon to come out and Roman wanted to refresh his memory. Despite what some people said about the movies, he thoroughly enjoyed them, even though plots of most of these films were about the main hero defeating the criminals, that reminded Roman of himself, except for the fact that Roman was much more smarter than any of the villians onscreen, of course. Getting comfortable, he was ready to start. There was, however, one thing he didn't take into account.

"Give that back, Neo!" For some reason Neo thought that watching an action movie filled with explosions, firefights and whatnot right after a head trauma wouldn't do good to his injured head.

The multicoloured devil stood a meter apart from his bed with her hands crossed, one hand holding a remote control. No matter what he said and how he asked, Neo wouldn't budge. Roman was even considering a throwing at her one of the ice packs she had brought, but decided against it. Aside from being entertaining, it wouldn't do any good.

And so here he was, lying on the bed with a headache, completely helpless, at the mercy of his partner, who was hell bent on speeding up his recovery, even at the cost of his comfort.

Roman sighed, accepting the fact that there was nothing he could do to persuade her.

"Fine, no TV, what do you propose me to do then?"

Neo put a finger to her chin and started looking around his room for anything. Finally some item caught her attention. Walking over to his table, she put down a remote control and took a pack of cards. Turning to Roman, she shook the pack and raised an eyebrow.

After a moment of consideration he shrugged. "I guess that works too."

Neo smiled and made her way to Roman. Before she even reached the bed, however, there was a knock on the door.

Roman looked at his scroll. It was only 11 AM. Their meeting was supposed to take place in the evening.

"What is it, I'm on a break now!" he shouted.

Ash's muffled voice came through the door. "We've run into some complications, boss. It's urgent."

Rolling his head back, he let an exasperated sigh escape his lips. _'I just can't catch a break, can I'._

"Fine, come in," Roman finally shouted. With that Ash's massive figure stepped through the doorway, walked inside the room and stopped right in front of the bed, that Neo was now also sitting on.

"It better be worth interrupting our private time," Roman said, gesturing at himself and Neo.

"It is, boss," Ash started. "We got the word that cops are now looking into the commotion you caused yesterday."

"Yeah, so what?"

So far there was nothing out of ordinary to Torchwick. By now everyone knew the drill: cops start investigating some of his recent wrongdoings, they start asking people around and collecting evidence. After that, right people in right places start getting mail with money and/or threats and suddenly there are no valid evidence and eyewitnesses didn't actually see anything. Even if everyone knows that it was Roman Torchwick, who was behind it all (which wasn't rare, considering his love for publicity and the attention he got out of it), there was nothing anyone could do.

As some people joked, 'half of the police department is on his payroll, the other half is watching parking slots'.

Ash, being his lieutenant, knows how to deal with the cops on his boss' back like no one else.

So, unless something's gone reallywrong, he wouldn't be concerning Roman with that.

"For some reason, they seem to be far more determined than usual to finish the investigation,' Ash continued.

"Do they know it was me?"

"They are sure it is you, they just need evidence for the record."

"Hm, have you sent them our little happy letters?"

"We have. Chief of police Donaldson. After receiving the mail he actually slowed the investigation down."

The criminal shrugged, "So, what's the problem then?"

"An hour ago he and 6 other officers got relieved of their duties and arrested for bribery. Judging by the files we got, the new chief of police will be even less cooperative. There is currently an investigation ongoing in the police department. I think that in a few days most of our cops will end up just like Donaldson."

A moment of stunned silence passed.

In his long criminal career Roman learned not to underestimate the police. Even while having them under his thumb, he was perfectly aware of the danger they posed, he was just confident in his ability to timely redirect their attention onto other matters, away from him, through different means. Still, learning that the police took such drastic measures just to investigate the fight in the docks was enough to astound him. Why were they so interested in it? After all, there were far more serious offenses they'd just let pass in the past.

Now, it seemed, they were really gunning for him.

Looking at Neo, he could see the same expression of surprise on her face as he had.

"Well then, any idea what's gotten into them? What's so special about the fight yesterday?"

"No idea. But it's most likely that the order came from the very top, otherwise they wouldn't take it that seriously," Ash shrugged.

Roman nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with his lieutenant.

"But if you want to know my opinion," the grey haired mountain of a man spoke again. "It's probably connected to the woman you fought.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Roman could already feel his headache coming in a full force. Perhaps it's better to wrap it up before he started feeling as if his head was being bashed with a hammer, not to mention he was not so enthusiastic about making decisions in this state.

"Ok, here's the plan: first, we lay low. All current operations must be put on hold for now, we don't wanna attract police's attention right now. Second, find out as much as you can about Cinder. I'm certain she's gonna try to get to me, that's why we must get to her first."

"Got it, boss."

"Good, now go. You're giving me a headache."

Once Ash was gone, Roman turned to Neo, took the cards from her and started shuffling them.

"Neo, be a dear and lock the door, I don't want any further interruptions."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** **first off, I'd like to thank everyone for leaving their reviews. I'm really glad people are interested in the story. A special thanks goes to The Deity With Two Faces for pointing out my mistake ****in the previous chapter. As you probably remember, Doc said that Roman doesn't have a concussion because he lacked of symptoms caused by a concussion, such as loss of consciousness and slurred speech. But he has a headache, which is also a symptom. And because of that, the doctor should no have disregarded a possibility of concussion like that.**

**Yeah, my bad. I don't really know much about medicine and such, so I assumed that a headache alone, without any other symptoms, would not be enough to raise serious concerns. It was my understanding, that if a person has ****several of the symptoms, only then doctors conclude that this person has a concussion.**

**Yeah, I'm not very smart as you can tell.**

**Next time I'll be more careful before writing something like that again. **

(**by the way, I didn't actually know about concussion symptoms, so I googled it and just copy-pasted it here. Basically, Ash searching for the information on scroll = me irl.)**

**_Neo_**

After Ash left, the duo of criminals were left alone and started their game of cards. Roman and Neo had their own way of playing the game. Long time ago they realized that playing against each other fairly was boring. And so, they started cheating. Neo used her illusion semblance and Roman used the skills to fool people he acquired from countless games in his criminal career.

Both of them, of course, knew that the other was cheating, but that was the fun of it. Now it was the matter of who was the best cheater.

Following their game with Roman claiming victory (_'He just got lucky'_), they prepared to leave for the planning session they had. Neo was, naturally, less than thrilled about it. She would rather stay here with Roman, but what can you do. During their game she tried to convince him not to go, considering his headache. Roman reassured her that the migrane was largely gone.

It was relieving news, of course, but she would keep her eye in him, just in case.

A few minutes later Roman grabbed his cane, while Neo took her parasol and together they left the room and made their way to the planning session.

They managed to reach their destination without any accident in a few short minutes. Fixing his hat, Roman moved to the door and flung it open. As the door collided with the wall, every occupant of the room immediately turned to face a sudden arrival. The room was silent, except for Roman's cane repeatedly hitting the ground and Neo's clicking heels, as they moved to the table, currently occupied by five other people. Their seats were naturally vacant.

Reaching the table, the red head dropped into his seat, while Neo sat down gracefully into hers. Before Roman started the meeting, Neo took time to look at those who were present here.

Five people. All of them Roman's lieutenants. But if Ash was The Lieutenant, the other four were just lieutenants. To some people that number might seem a bit too much, but considering the size of Roman's criminal empire, it was only natural that there were people who took care of some specific areas and reported it to Ash, who then reported it all to Roman. They were an interesting bunch.

Right across from her, on Roman's left was Ash. He patiently waited for his boss to start with that perfect poker face of his. Uninterested, Neo moved on. Right beside him was a man in a business suit wearing glasses. His appearance just screamed 'Clerk' with that unremarkable face and business appearance. If she didn't know any better, Neo would have thought he was just some office worker, who accidentally came to the wrong meeting. In reality it was Grey (or, as Roman liked to call him, Bob the Accountant). Well, it wasn't his real name, it was what everyone here called him. Actually, everyone here, aside from Roman and Neo used some kind of a nickname. And for a good reason. Unlike the duo, those five often had to deal with other people out in the streets and sometimes even high ranking officials, so they generally had to keep low profile. Or at least lower than Roman and Neo . Therefore, they didn't use their real names. They often gave different people they dealt with different names. Sometimes two people would deal with the same person and not even know about it. That way it was harder to find them and figure out what they were up to. That tactic worked very well so far. Another one of Roman's brilliant ideas.

As for Grey, he was responsible for dealing with government officials. So, if, for example, you wanted some official, or bureaucrat, or even chief of police bribed or threatened, your told Grey to do it. The man himself seemed boring to Neo. That 'no bullshit' attitude, that politeness and courtesy that every politician seemed to have. Not to mention that the idea itself of dealing with government seemed boring as hell. To her he was an embodiment of boredom. But he was useful, and that's all that mattered.

Next to him sat a girl with golden hair. She was a complete opposite of Bob, wearing causal attire, as if she had just come from her stroll in the park. She wore sneakers, jeans and a t-shirt with baby beowulf grimm on it. It was cute, Neo had to admit. Everyone here called her Aurelia. She liked to joke around and she was somewhat eccentric. That didn't stop her from acting ruthlessly when the situation called for it, though. And that was a good thing, too, considering that her job was to deal and 'negotiate' with mobs and gangs in the underworld.

Perhaps at the first glance the idea of sending a young and innocent looking woman to deal with hardened criminals may not seem as the brightest one. But, as it turned out, there was no one who could have done a better job. She used her sweet looks to fool people into underestimating her and then play them like a fiddle. She rarely, if ever, used direct threats while dealing with mobsters. She had some experience with the criminals in her past and she always seemed to know what to say in order to get the most benefit. But if push came to shove, she was not afraid to spill some blood.

Naturally, the ice cream girl found Aurelia to be far more fun than almost everyone else here (except for Roman, duh). Two sweet looking girls, who are actually not afraid to get their hands dirty and ready to do anything to get the job done and have as much fun as possible? You bet your money they'd become good friends.

Opposite to Aurelia, on the Neo's side of the table was Cole, wearing black leather jacket and pants, with short coal dark hair. He was actually an ex-Atlesian soldier, discharged for some incident, that 'may have involved a bit of friendly fire'. Having served in the military and having experience with strict army discipline and fighting, he was wisely put in charge of commanding and organising their countless scores of thugs they had. He was carefree with a passion for alcohol, but that didn't stop him from being extremely effective at what he did. While he spent most of the time instilling discipline into their henchmen, which wasn't easy in any way, considering all of them were from the streets, he often led some operations personally, which speaks volumes about Roman's trust in him.

As for Neo, she had found him to be tons of fun, especially when he was drunk out of his mind. He wasn't drunk all the time, of course, but that still happend pretty regularly.

The last person was sitting between Neo and Cole. He was wearing dark blue hoody and jeans.

The hood covered his head, so she could only see his dark sunglasses that covered his eyes. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember his name. He wasn't what you would call a talkative person. And taking into account that he was their top spy and informant, that is completely understandable. 99% of the intel they had came from him. And unlike some people (*cough* Junior *cough*) both her and Roman considered him reliable. In all honesty, he had better information than anyone in the city. Junior, of course, didn't know about him, which was pretty ironic.

A sudden tapping sound redirected her attention to the red head in the head of the table. Roman was knocking his cane on the floor to catch everyone's attention. With that out of the way, he began.

"Good to see some of you here, but I'm afraid we don't have time for pleasantries. As some of you may have noticed, weird things have been happening in our beloved city. First, some crazy pyromaniac-huntress-witch decided it would be a great idea to make me her lapdog. While I'm not the one to judge _some __people's _kinks," he said, throwing a glance at certain ice cream themed girl, who just silently giggled, "I'm not really a submissive type, so it didn't work out. Now she more than likely wants my head. And if that wasn't enough, the Vale police has and_ actual investigation _going on me and that fire witch. And now we don't even have anyone in the department to pull the strings, so to speak. Now," he turned to their informant, "I believe you have some intel you want to share?"

The man nodded as everyone redirected their attention to him.

"There is not much intel on this woman, Cinder, which most likely means that she's not from Vale. The only info concerning her we got, is that she's not alone. Several sources describe seeing a young male with grey hair and a female with green hair. The word is that they were seen in the industrial area, where their hideout might be located. There may even be more of them, as people saw several other people visiting this area, most of them faunus."

After a few moments filled with silence

"Is that all?" Roman asked, somewhat surprised.

The man nodded.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy," he muttered under his breath before raising his voice, "Okay, now we just need to figure out what to do next. Any brilliant ideas?"

Not missing a beat, Cole spoke or, more accurately, slurred. "I say we just send she scouts into the industrial zone, they find the hideout and we storm it. Boom, job done."

"First off," Roman began sternly, "Why are you drunk?"

Surprisingly, it was Grey who answered, "Nobody informed him of the meeting until about 10 minutes before we started. By that time he had already downed 5 or 6 bottles."

Aurelia and Neo chuckled, Roman and Ash face palmed, their nameless informant and Grey didn't react in any way. Cole just looked confused.

"No, Coal we can't do that," Roman started explaining, "We don't know how powerful her friends are and how many of them there are. And judging by her own power, I'd say it's not worth the risk."

There is also another problem," Grey interjected, "the industrial zone is huge. We'd have to sent a lot of people there if we want to find anything. If we do that, however, we are bound to catch someone's attention, be it Cinder or the police."

"Speaking of police," Aurelia turned her head and addressed Grey, "What's going on with them, why have they suddenly decided to crack down on us? Is it because of that woman?"

Everyone nodded and turned their heads towards either their hooded informant or Grey. At least one of them should have known something. Grey shook his head.

"I don't know much and I'm afraid I won't be any help for a time being. Right now they are trying to get as many people to interrogate as possible. With the number of our people in the police they arrested I fear they might have a lead on me. I think the best course of action for me is to lie low for a bit," he turned to Roman, "If that's alright with you, of course

Neo along with everyone else rotated her head towards Roman. He remained silent for a moment before agreeing.

"Yeah, you do that. And that also concerns everyone else. Do not take any unnecessary risks, police and Cinder will be watching our every step, we need to be careful. Is that clear?"

Everyone of course nodded.

"If I may," a sudden voice spoke up. At first Neo didn't recognize it, before realising it was the hooded guy. _'How could I forget about him?' _And judging by some people's faces, she wasn't the only one.

"I've heard some rumours regarding the increase in police activity. While they are not really reliable, that's the only thing we got for now."

Now that's got everyone's attention, Neo included. Even drunk Cole leaned forward.

"According to them, the order came from the Vale Council, or someone closer to them. I do not, however, know why they would do that. I need some time to figure this out."

Stunned silence met this revelation. Vale Council? Whatever's brought their attention Roman can't be good

"Huh, big shots from Vale Council?" Roman rubbed his chin as thoughts swirled in his mind. For some reason he looked too can fit a man who just learnt that the most powerful people in the entire kingdom suddenly were very interested in him. "That would explain a lot but we are still missing something here. Who would they bother with this situation?"

The next few minutes passed in silence as Roman continued mulling something over in his mind. With nothing better to do everyone patiently waited for him. Now Neo began regretting not bringing the scroll withl her.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," he finally announced, "Grey, you lay low for a while, we cannot risk them finding one of us."

The man in business suit nodded.

"Aurelia, find out as much as you can about Cinder. There is bound to be someone in the criminal world who knows something about her. Also keep an eye on the gangs, I have a suspicion that she may try recruiting some of them as she tried to do with me."

The good haired girl saluted mockingly, "You got it, boss."

Neo smiled at girl's antics. Ignoring her, Roman moved on.

"Cole, have our men be ready for action at any moment. Something tells me things are gonna get hectic really fast."

The man replied, "Yes, general."

Considering the drunkard's state, it was impossible to tell whether he tried to joke or he was so wasted that he took Roman for general. Neo liked the latter.

"And you," he said, pointing at their informant. Neo snickered when she realised that Roman didn't remember his name either. "Look into these Vale Council rumours. Last thing we need is them on our trail. Also get some info on Cinder."

This time he addressed to everyone, "You'll report all your progress, or a lack of thereof, to Ash, who will then inform me. Ash, Neo and I will stay at this base for a time being, so if something urgent happens, you know where to find us. Any questions?"

When no one replied, Roman concluded, "Okay then, no time to waste, let's get to work."

The sound of chairs scraping the floor filled Neo's ears as everyone raised themselves and headed straight towards the exit. Falling in line with Roman, they let everyone pass before before starting walking.

As they left the room Neo tugged his sleeve. When he looked at her she tapped an index finger on her temple with a raised eyebrow.

"My head is good, thanks for asking. Now, it would be great to get some work done, but I think we deserve a bit of rest, don't ya think?"

Neo's answer was vigorous nodding.

"Great! Then Spruce Willis movie it is!"

**Any kind of criticism of always welcome.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the delay. Exams are soon and I had to prepare for them. Thankfully, they've been postponed and now I have more spare time continue writing the story.** **Enjoy.**

**_Junior_**

It's been a good day so far.

Everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. Just the way Junior liked. No fights in the club, his men acted a bit less dumber than usual and he'd earned a huge pile of money.

It was days like this that made him happy with the less than legal way of living that he chose.

In high spirits, he decided to celebrate this by downing a bottle of fine vine in his office. It was 2 A.M. and the club was already closed. The twins had already left and there were only a handful of his men remaining in the building, cleaning the place up.

His office was just a small room with a desk in the middle and some cabinets, holding a wide variety of stuff within, from papers to a couple of guns, hidden in different compartments. You can never be too careful.

He didn't spend that much time in here, though. Most of the time he was at the bar.

Figuring the day was over and he had no business in the foreseeable future, he decided that a bit of alcohol in his system wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, before he could even make a sip from the opened bottle at his lips, knocking on his door drew the man's attention.

Sighing, he set the bottle on the table and yelled.

"What do you want?"

"Y-you have visitors, s-sir." A trembling voice barely reached the man's ears through the door.

Junior growled, knowing, that whoever that was, they were trouble. He had enough common sense to know that if someone tries to get an audience with you away from people's eyes and threaten your employees to get to you, they were bad news.

Making sure that his club was within an arm's reach, he faced the door and yelled once again.

"Come in!"

First couple seconds noting happened. Then the door finally opened.

Junior wasn't sure what he was expecting to see. Part of him thought that would be Roman or one of his associates. But upon laying his eyes on the figure in the doorway, he knew that was something else entirely.

Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She wore a magnificent red dress. She was really a sight. It took him a few seconds to realise she was not alone.

Behind her, in the corridor stood a younger woman with green hair. She was currently holding one of his men hostage with a blade to his neck.

"Hei Xiong, I presume?" the woman asked, and by god, _that voice. _Had they meet under less threatening circumstances, he would probably try to hit on her.

Regaining his composure, he replied.

"Yeah, that's me, and who exactly are you, ladies?"

"I am Cinder, and this," she pointed at the green haired girl, "is Emerald. We've come here with a business proposition for you."

Hei raised his hand before she could continue.

"You've got my attention, but first," he gestured towards the girl, Emerald, and her hostage, "let my man go."

Even though his men were not the brightest bunch and could _really _screw up sometimes, they were still _his _men. Say what you want about Junior, but he genuinely cared for boys under his command.

Without turning her head, Cinder nodded and the girl released the poor man.

"Get back to your post," the man nodded and scurried away.

"Now, with that out of the way," Cinder started and closed the distance between them, standing right in front of his desk. Meanwhile, Emerald entered the room and closed the door. All of it made Junior's impressive muscles tense. He subconsciously reached for the weapon but quickly stopped himself. '_Not now__,' _he thought.

"As I have already said, we have a business proposition for you," with that Cinder turned and started pacing through the room, looking at the cabinets and their contents, making him more and more uncomfortable. Perhaps this was her goal.

"I heard you have information on every little thing happening in the city. Is that right?"

Junior leaned back in his chair.

"Oh it is right. If there's something going in the city, you can bet all your money I'm already aware of it and everyone involved. And I am willing to share that information. For a price, of course."

Junior was really exaggerating here, but how can you not? This flaming hot woman was clearly interested in what info he could provide her. And it's not like his reputation of the best information broker was exaggerated. As far as he was aware, there was no one in the city with better and more reliable connections and sources.

Eventually, Cinder stopped pacing, "Glad to hear it," she said and started slowly walking towards him, "But I need something more than just information."

Okay, now Junior was really starting to get nervous. Something about her just screamed 'Danger!' and he'd spent enough time around all kinds of dangerous people to know one when he could see one. She was definitely no joke.

When the woman was standing right in front of his table he asked, "And what would that be?"

"I require your cooperation." With that she slowly reached out and grabbed the forgotten bottle of wine.

After a second of regretting that he hadn't put it away Junior asked, "Cooperation? Like a long term partnership? What for?"

"You see, my dear Junior," she started, going around his table, "you're not the first one I've made an offer to. I'm rather new to this city, and I needed a ...friend with power and resources. Naturally, I went to someone who holds the most power in the city..."

Junior's blood ran cold when he realised who she was talking about.

"Roman."

It was Junior's rule of thumb that whenever Roman was involved, expect a whole lot of problems. The amount of troubles he could cause for Junior (and just about anyone, honestly) was the only thing bigger than his ego.

Everyone in the underworld learned that first-hand. Multiple times.

Junior knew that if Roman was somehow involved in this, it was possibly better to jump the ship now.

Meanwhile, Cinder smiled upon seeing the club owner's distressed face and continued. "Yes, Roman Torchwick. Unfortunately, he wasn't as wise as I hoped and declined my generous offer and tried to kill me. I must say, I'm not fond of people doing that." At this point she was already at Junior's side, who had to turn to face her.

The man could already guess where this was going and he didn't like it.

"Listen," he said, "if you want to take revenge on Roman, I'm afraid you won't find much help here, or anywhere else in the city. He's got everyone on a tight leash. There's plenty of people who'd rather see him gone, but there's not much they can do."

Cinder smirked, "I take it you are one of those people."

Junior hesitated before replying. He wanted to let her know that he was not the biggest fan of Torchwick, but he didn't want to say sometime outright aggressive, his paranoia wouldn't let him.

"He wasn't always good for business."

Cinder's smile never faltered, "Well, luckily for you, I'm willing to help you end his reign. Permanently."

Hearing these words in the same room as him was rather terrifying. Part of Junior was afraid that Roman would somehow find out about this meeting and send someone for his head. Probably that mute lunatic of his.

After a few moments he managed to collect his thoughts, "That's very ambitious, to say the least. But as I said, I won't help you. I'd rather keep my head where it currently is."

Cinder just sighed disappointingly, "Oh, Junior, it seems you do not have any faith in me."

Junior was about to respond when he heard some strange noise. Was that ... bubbling?

Looking down, he could see that the wine inside the bottle Cinder was holding started boiling. Not only that but the air around him was getting hotter with each passing second. Now he was sweating, and the temperature wasn't the cause.

"Have you heard," Cinder started again, "about the recent attacks on Torchwick's outposts?"

Junior was no idiot and it took him little time to put two and two together. _'So she was the one behind the attacks? __Oh great__.'_

"You mean to tell me that was you who put Roman's entire organisation on high alert in span of days?" he asked somewhat incredulously. With each moment his internal 'danger alarm' was going crazy. If she was the one behind the mess, and he had little reasons to doubt her, she was very dangerous, perhaps even more so than Roman.

Cinder only smirked and put the bottle back on the table, "And I've done that on my own. Imagine what we can achieve if I have the resources I need."

Even though Junior's self preservation instinct screamed at him to drop these talks and continue minding his own, relatively small business, the _other _part of this instinct was sure that Junior will not see the dawn of the next day if he refuses."It is my understanding that all gangs in the city have to work for Roman, and I doubt that many of them are happy with being ordered around. There will certainly be no shortage of allies once we show them Roman's weaknesses. Combine that with your information and my power," with that she materialised a fireball in her hand, "and our victory is guaranteed."

Junior was shocked. He could not force even a sound out of his throat. Taking advantage, Cinder continued.

"Of course I could do it on my own. It would take a bit more time, but ultimately I will be victorious. Unfortunately, if that's how things will go, I'm afraid I can't risk you telling Roman all about my plan."

Before he could even think about what she said, her hand grabbed his throat and _by god, was her hand hot_. He would have screamed in pain if he could. He tried to push her hand off, but she was ridiculously strong. With last ditch effort he reached out behind to grab his weapon, but couldn't reach it. When did his chair move this far?

When his vision started to cloud Junior was sure he was done for. Suddenly, the pressure was lifted and he could breath again. As he fell into a coughing fit, Cinder's smug voice reached his ears.

"But I'm sure that you are smart enough to make a right choice and help me. That will benefit both of us."

"Totally," his voice was quiet and hoarse.

"So, do we have a deal? Will you work with us?"

"I will."

That damn smile was _still _on her face. She turned around and went to exit the room. Without stopping or turning around she said, "We'll contact you when the time comes. Until then don't do anything stupid."

And with that she and her associate were gone.

Junior was still in shock and couldn't collect himself. He decided to help himself with the wine, but dropped the bottle on the floor once he realised it was still flaming hot. Looking at the shards of glass and expensive liquid at his feet he finally managed a sentence out of his aching throat.

"Yeah, I need something stronger anyway."

**_Ozpin _**

Last few weeks Ozpin had been busier than usual. Not only he had to prepare for a new academic year in Beacon, but there was also the Vytal festival coming up. On top of that, rather... disturbing news had reached him. Recently, there had been a large spike in activity in usually somewhat quiet criminal world. Attacks, resulting in destruction of several warehouses, that officially belonged to no one and were deemed unfit to use. But it wasn't these attacks that troubled him. Instead, it was a night fight that took place in the docks, near the previously destroyed warehouse. At first he didn't pay much attention to the situation, thinking that some kind of criminal feud was taking place. With that, he didn't think much of it and wanted to let the police department do its work.

There was, however, one thing that made him change his mind.

The camera feed, recovered from one of the warehouses.

Apparently, the fight took place outside. The outside camera was destroyed during the fighting and the camera inside the warehouse wasn't much help. That is, until a figure crashed through the wall and collided with the creates inside with force strong enough to incapacitate most of the huntsmen. But the figure, a woman, as far as he could tell, appeared to be merely stunned by this for a few moments, before getting back up. Right after that she sent something, what looks like a fireball through the hole she'd made. A moment later she walked through the same hole and the camera didn't record anything else that night.

Unfortunately, the camera's poor quality, angle and the distance made it impossible for Ozpin to make out any details. He couldn't tell, whether this fireball was fired from some sort of weapon or not.

In any case, what little evidence was on the feed and the destruction left outside spoke volumes about this woman's power, which couldn't help but worry the headmaster.

And it was because of that worry that Ozpin made a decision to find out as much as he could about the fight, and the situation as a whole.

It didn't take him long, considering the power he held and all his contacts, to find the first leads.

The police had already began their investigation, but progress was slow. Too slow even. It appeared, that, for some reason, the chief of police wanted the case to be closed completely, without any proper investigation. This raised a lot more suspicions. After pulling more strings within and without the police department, he found out a lot of interesting details, all of which led to one prominent criminal figure in Vale.

Roman Torchwick.

Firstly, all destroyed warehouses were believed to have been connected with Roman's vast criminal organisation in some way. Secondly, the area of the docks the fight had taken place in was unofficially considered to be under Torchwick's control. The police officers in the area were often bribed or threatened into inaction and did not hold much power. Thirdly, and most importantly, some of his most trusted sources claimed that the chief of police Donaldson himself and some other high ranking officers in the department were on Roman's payroll. That would certainly explain his desire to stop the investigation and close the case.

Not only that, but his sources also managed to get some intel on Donaldson's past actions regarding the investigations, believed to be connected with Vale's crimelord. All of them were either shut down or given insufficient resources to get any results. Now it was clear to Ozpin that Donaldson and people close to him were working for Torchwick. This was worrisome. If the top brass of the VPD was compromised, there was no telling how much damage this could cause to the city. A 'cleaning' had to be conducted in the VPD to find and punish everyone connected with the criminal world for the city's safety. And he planned on making it happen.

But there was also another reason Ozpin wanted to do it. Currently, the only lead he had on the mysterious woman was Roman Torchwick, who, most likely, this woman fought against. If he wanted to find the woman, he had to find Roman first. And for it to happen, they had to find all the moles within the department.

That was a lot of work, but it needed to be done. And so, pulling as many strings as he could and even contacting the Vale council, he achieved a great number of things in a couple short days. All the police officers found guilty in working for Roman were arrested, with more reliable and competent ones taking their place. Right after that a massive investigation on Roman's entire criminal network was launched.

Ozpin did all he could, now he just needed to wait. And something told him he wouldn't have to wait long.

**A/N: I'll try to update more frequently but can't really promise anything with the exams around the corner. **


End file.
